Manatee Adventure: Crystal River & Wildlife Park

Experience the real Florida with a Crystal River Manatee Swim. Get up-close with gentle manatees and explore the beauty of Crystal River and Homosassa State Wildlife Park.

Duration: 8 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge - The boat will navigate into the wildlife refuge, offering the opportunity to observe wild manatees in the river.
  • Crystal River - Upon reaching the scenic Crystal River, guests will enjoy a delightful narrated boat tour. Masks, snorkels, and fins will be provided, and participants are encouraged to swim…
What's Included
  • Airboat Ride on Tuesday and Thursday tours
  • Admission into Homosassa State Park
  • Driver/guide
  • Use of snorkel equipment, mask & snorkel
  • Picnic Lunch
  • River cruise to look for the manatees
  • Pickup and drop-off from designated hotels
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Breakfast
  • Airboat Ride on Fridays & Saturdays - tour is priced lower
  • Wetsuits must be hired
Additional Information

Experience the true essence of Florida! Get up close with the gentle manatees and admire the stunning Crystal River as you explore the Homosassa State Wildlife Park.
The tour takes you to Crystal River, where you can snorkel or swim in the waters inhabited by wild manatees. With an early morning departure, it’s a good idea to bring breakfast snacks for…

Location
Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge
1502 SE Kings Bay Dr,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(285 Ratings)
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Rachel_u
Aug 20, 2026
A must do tour for any trip to Florida - Absolutely incredible day - Florida just how nature intended - fantastic fun for kids from 7-70! We travelled as a family of three adults and three kids and everyone had a brilliant day - it’s a jam packed schedule with an early pickup in Orlando, but totally worth it. Adam makes the journey both fun and educational and pitches it just right for every member of the group. Bird’s underwater dive school made our dreams come true and gave us lifelong memories snorkelling with manatees in the middle of their ‘off season’ because our expert captain and guide knew just where to go to find them. Wild Bill’s airboat ride is a must-do! There were loads of alligators, herons, dragonflies, cormorants, osprey and more in some of the most stunning landscapes we’d ever seen. Thank you so much to everyone involved in such a brilliant day!
Review provided by Viator
Celineco583ik
Aug 11, 2026
Definitly recommanded for manatees fans! - Excellent tour, truly amazing to see such a huge variety of wildlife, especially the manatees. Adam was a great guide, an extraordinary free style singer, and an exceptional show man ! The tour was definetly awesome and would have been even better with more information and facts about Florida's biodiversity.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jaynehw1509nc
Aug 8, 2026
Wow amazing!! - The experience was amazing from start to finish. It was an incredible experience so swim with a manatee in their natural habitat. It was out of season however still saw a couple. We were fortunate to also see a Mom and her newbown calf, born 20 mins before we spotted them from the boat. Our tour guide Adam was brilliant from start to finish. His humour, knowledge and enthusiasm made the day even more special. He’s a credit to the company.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jamielm2799dp
Aug 8, 2026
Adam the GOAT tour guide - Absolutely fantastic only made better with our guide Adam, full of knowledge throughout, his Jason Statham impression needs work though. Adam is a credit to the grey line company.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Trip25328036121
Aug 7, 2026
Tubing - Went on a tour with Adam as a guide and was great!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jakschewski
Jul 31, 2026
Highly recommended - The pickup at the hotel was very positive. Kevin told us interesting things about the area or the history every now and then along the way. The team for swimming with manatees was very competent and paid close attention to compliance with the rules for the protection of the animals. The Homosassa Springs Wildlife is well worth seeing. ( Many mosquitoes) A highlight, however, was the airboat ride. I will definitely book with Grayline again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Z7771nukarenb
Jul 30, 2026
Amazing day - Adam was brilliant and kept the tour going all day despite the weather not being the best. We had an amazing day and Jake was not sure about swimming with the manatees but Adam encouraged and reassured him and he eventually did the experience. He usually is not sure about people he does not know and is very shy, but he really liked Adam. The swim was amazing and we saw fish from our snorkel, manatees and dolphins from the boat. The manatee feed and animals were brilliant in the state park. The airboat was fantastic. Saw loads of gators and Florida fauna and flora. Also loved Adam’s commentary. Thank you for a wonderful day xx
Review provided by Tripadvisor
U8891jhtheom
Aug 6, 2026
Great day out - The experience was amazing meeting the mannitees was a great adventure and an awesome first-time activity. The staff was really friendly, acknowledging, funny. The amount of people coming was a perect amount and there were others to relate to in having a first-time experience. The atmosphere around was overall really nice to be around as well. This was an amazing full day activity consisting of so many exciting events creating new companions along the journey. Overall an awesome experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
237braydeng
Aug 13, 2026
Not worth the money, definitely need to be more specific with the pictures. 8/12 people didn’t even get to see a manatee - Adam our driver was great, very entertaining and a nice guy. Now the swimming with the manatees and the airboat ride did not meet our expectations by no means. Adam was the better entertainer of the trip everything else was not worth $398. It is not advertised like it should be, water was muddy muddy and not clear and the airboat ride just was a normal boat ride to us.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
392sierap
Aug 13, 2026
Not advertised like it should be. Wouldn’t recommend going in the summer unless you want to swim in murky waters. - I want to start off with Adam was a very good guide and had a very good attitude and was very bubbly. But I do wish the company for swimming with the manatees would not advertise that the water is crystal blue year round and would let guest know ahead of time they may not see a manatee at all during the summer months. When you go to book online, they show these pretty pictures of clear water and so many people swimming with manatees, which is true for certain months of the year. The company should definitely add that is does not look like that during the summer and you will not have the same experience! Not even our whole group got to see a manatee or swim with it. And the air boat ride just didn’t meet our expectations like it has in the past with different companies.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $169
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).